Mindi's Journey Into Aesthetics: The Path from Nursing to Entrepreneurship - Ep 5

From Nursing to Aesthetics: Mindi Mattheus on the Journey to Becoming an Injector

In this episode of the Aesthetic AF Podcast, we visit Clean Skin Aesthetics with expert injector Mindi Mattheus. Mindi dives into her unconventional path from nursing to aesthetics, detailing how she navigated through various roles, from dermatology to plastic surgery, eventually mastering injectable treatments. She discusses the industry nuances, the importance of continual learning, and the challenges faced by aesthetic professionals. Mindi also shares insights on growing her business, marketing strategies, and balancing her role as a business owner and a mother. This episode is packed with actionable advice for those in the aesthetics industry or anyone considering a similar career path.

00:00 Introduction to the Aesthetic AF Podcast

00:16 Mindi's Journey into Aesthetics

01:04 Early Career and Learning Opportunities

04:40 Transition to Texas and New Beginnings

06:20 Building a Business from Scratch

11:37 Marketing and Client Acquisition

15:09 Balancing Motherhood and Business

19:09 Current Challenges and Future Plans

20:16 Assessing Capacity and Administrative Load

21:59 Outsourcing and Hiring Strategies

23:40 Monetary Value of Time and Profitability

27:03 Overcoming Fear and Embracing Growth

30:18 Social Media and Digital Presence

36:50 SEO and Marketing Optimization

39:24 Conclusion and Final Thought

Join Our Community of MedSpa Owners: https://www.facebook.com/groups/salesandmarketingformedspas

Learn More About The Podcast or Apply to be a Guest: https://aestheticafpodcast.com/

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About The Hosts 🎙

Sam Varner –
A profit strategist with over 16 years of experience in financial services, public relations, and business coaching. She helps service-based business owners create sustainable, scalable, and highly profitable companies.

Tara Dotson Riley –
CEO of Tara Lynn Media (TLM), specializing in digital marketing, social media management, content creation, premium brand growth, and client acquisition strategies for medspa owners looking to establish authority and dominate their local market.

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Looking to attract high-value clients, increase revenue, and scale your medspa? The Aesthetic AF Podcast is your go-to resource for marketing, sales, and business growth strategies tailored for medspa owners and aesthetic professionals.

🎙 Hosted by Sam Varner (Profit Strategist) and Tara Dotson Riley (Marketing Expert), each episode delivers real-world insights and actionable strategies to help you build a thriving, profitable aesthetic business.

✔️ Stay ahead with the latest medspa...

Transcript

0:00

Welcome to the Aesthetic AF podcast. Today we're at Clean Skin Aesthetics with Mindi Mattheus. Hi. Thank you for having me. We're really glad that we get to do this conversation today and even more fun is that we get to do it on site. Tell us, like, how did you even get into the industry? The convoluted road. Yes. It really is. And I think you'll hear that story from a lot of people who Absolutely, we classify ourselves as injectors. It's not a straight path because you don't go to school saying, oh, I am going to be an injector. And that's what you studied, right? Even dermatologists, like they go through medical school and their specialty is dermatology. But all of this injecting Botox filler lasers, that's not part of school. You learn usually through companies or if you're lucky enough, you get a mentor. So it's not like a specific certification. It's like on the job learning. I know that's surprising to a lot of people. They'll say, oh, I'm Botox certified. What does that mean? It means you took a course during the weekend, but does it really mean anything? It all falls under your license as a medical provider. So I started out like I did my undergrad in nursing and then I did a normal nursing life, which is working in a hospital, working those crazy hours. And one of those jobs was a night shift at NYU, which is a great hospital system to work at, but nights are hard there was a random dermatology RN position open, which is rare because most derm practices, don't need registered nurses. I called and it turned out to be a very large dermatology practice that had nine different dermatologists. And they needed registered nurses because they were doing most surgery for skin cancer all day long. And the M maas can't inject lidocaine to numb up the area. I was just injecting lidocaine in people all day. Right time, right place, for that. Within that practice, it wasn't just about MO surgery, they are a huge mecca for laser procedures. I mean cutting edge, fill our Botox treatments. Like the man that owns it, he's like kind of the godfather of laser. Okay. So what his title really? Yes, his name is Roy Geronimus. He's very famous in that world. So just through osmosis I had to prep patients for laser treatments. I had to think, okay, what laser room should I be putting them in based on their skin type or what their complaint is? We had, probably 15 different lasers. Oh wow, okay. It was a lot. Sometimes we had multiple, the same laser 'cause it was just such a huge practice. Through osmosis that was how I learned about laser. And then watching them inject, I mean, I don't wanna say primitive, but like injecting Hass come a long way since 2010. But that was how I got exposed to it originally. Yes. It certainly wasn't the kind of med spa environment that we have now. And it was so expensive to do. So it wasn't like, 20 something year olds coming in, to just get Botox. The landscape looks very different today. I never injected there, I never did anything outside of basically prepping patients, injecting lidocaine. But I was able to see all of it. And that's half the battle in this world just having exposure. So that was not originally what I went to that job for. It was really just to get out of night shifts. But that's what it turned into. And then simultaneously, I was still working in the hospital because that's what nurses do. And also when you're living in Manhattan, those rent prices are horrible. So yes, had to pay the rent. So I was still working at the hospital and one of the jobs I had was recovering patients from breast cancer surgery. We were doing work, and I just correct you and help save your life treatments. One of the surgeons that was a fellow at the time, his name is Steven Levine I got acquainted with him and he ended up, basically graduating from NYU and was picked up by a, prominent plastic surgeon Daniel Baker, who was also like the god godfather of facelifts. Okay. Very well known in his industry. He hired Steven and. Steven hired me to take sutures out of facelift patients because that was another thing at the dermatology practice I did, was I would take these very tiny stitches out of like most surgery patients. Okay. So I was quick at it. So she's like, why don't you come over here and do this? So I did. And they did not have an injectable business at the time. They didn't have laser. So he said, why don't you help us curate these lasers? You have experience at Roy's office. What do you think performs? And then we built from there. And then that naturally just goes in with injecting because the surgeons ultimately, they don't wanna spend time injecting Botox, their job is in the or. That's where they're happiest. Yeah. So I started learning, injecting through him, and then another nurse that they hired who already had a patient following, and she ultimately became my mentor who I watched and then started slowly practicing. So how did you end up in Texas? Okay, so Texas. Yeah, so my I met a boy. Ah, a boy. Yes. I met a boy in 2013 who I really liked. He was an oil trader for Bank of America. I said, let's give this relationship a try. We ended up dating and got married in 2017. It turns out there's a lot of oil in Houston. It's a very different world I had just gotten my business going. My clients are definitely not gonna commute from New York to Houston. Little far. However, I have had two do that. Really? Yes. Wow. I tell 'em, don't come down here. There are so many injectors. Just go to someone in New York and I refer them. But yeah, so that's how we made it to Houston I won't lie. It was a very different setting, going from working on Park Avenue to a hair salon. That was a big change. And that's when you have to tuck that ego down, you put it away. And you really just look at the landscape and really boutique turned out to be like a diamond in the rough they are great at what they do, but as a medical provider, you think, why am I here? But it turned out to be so amazing. The owners are great. And that was how my business started. I don't wanna call it my business. I was working for somebody, but that's how I got exposure to patients. I ran it by myself I did not see my employer, maybe a few times a year. They were just like, here, come and run this business and we're not gonna give you any help and bye. Good luck. Wow. Yeah. It was a very hands off sink or swim. Right? Pretty much. He's if you wanna make money, try to go make money. I said, okay, I will try my best. And there would be some weeks where it'd be like two patients on the schedule in a day. There was like nobody on the schedule. Were you having to do also like your own marketing, your own sales? Yes. All of the stuff for absolutely. Another business. Yes. And that's where the rub comes in over time. Because you realize, you're like, okay, I'm building this image, this brand. I even put myself in Modern Luxury. He did not pay for that. I'm trying, to get my face out there. So there's recognition and I just realized, I'm like, why am I doing all of this for someone else to profit. Now granted, I will say the margin is not great in aesthetics. When you hire an injector and you're paying that injector, it's not like you're making a bunch of money. Nobody really makes that much money. But I realize if I do it on my own, I have a chance to make a better salary and have more scheduled flexibility. And if you're doing all of the public relations and the marketing and paying for that stuff, and you're building your brand with you as front and center, yes. You want to own it. You eventually wanna, right? Yeah. I was like, ah, this makes me feel like I just need to do my own thing like that. So yeah. But he was like the purse. If I wanted to curate a certain filler or neurotoxin, I would basically report to him and say, these are the margins on this product versus this one. This is what you're doing currently. We're not in the black. We need to transition and either bring in some different products or take a different route because I'm tracking all the numbers and this, you're not winning here. So I had to go through that. Wow. I love that. And all, even me tracking all the numbers and it's not. It wasn't even my business, but I wanted to tell him like, Hey, this is working this month, or this is not working. That's that entrepreneurial mindset of even if it's not your business, you're gonna apply those principles because whatever you're doing, you want to succeed, even if it's for someone else. You're putting yourself out there. And that's how you're marking for your own self, your success, where you can look back and be like, we made this change. It was worthwhile. It was more profitable. There was no way, you weren't going independent. There was no way you weren't gonna go on your own. Yeah. And I did it not because I was thinking about that at the outset. No. I wanted to be able to prove my worth to him. Yeah. And he even said, why are you even doing this? Because I wanna let you know if your business is doing well or not. Yeah. So, and I would say this to anybody who's thinking about working for themselves. Always know what your numbers are, know what your worth is. And that's how I knew ultimately I can survive outside of this environment even if I make half of what I'm doing for him, I can still survive. Yeah. What a great, lesson, the amount of time that you had to be the sponge, right? The sponge of knowledge on the laser, the sponge on the knowledge of the injection. The sponge of I have to make this profitable or else he's not gonna keep me so that I need to justify what I'm doing. All of that gave you such an amazing base so that you could go out on your own very confidently knowing all of that. That's very cool. It's definitely not as common a story of how people end up going independent. I think oftentimes we end up in that position where. People get frustrated working for somebody else, right. That could be that assumption that you could be making more money, but rarely do people take the opportunity or maybe get access to the numbers. That also is sometimes not something that people get access to, to really see what it looks like and know what it's gonna look like on the other side. I think sometimes we think I'll make a ton of money when I go out on my own because I won't have to be dealing with all of the overhead without knowing it's way harder than it looks, but you having that access to those numbers put you in such a good position. Yeah. And those numbers are easy to acquire because you know what you're charging per unit. Because I was the one curating the product. I know what we were paying. Per vial of Botox or per box of filler. It's easy to figure out what your cost of goods is and then your net, it was a good training wheels, I would say, for owning and running a business. It was like a dress rehearsal. I didn't know that's what was happening at the time, but that's what was happening. Yeah. Was that learning to see what it was gonna be like on my own. Know your numbers. I say that so many times to different business owners. it's nice to see how that has served you. Just knowing those and being able to also know how hard the marketing side is, how hard the exposure side is already, and getting to test some things out at lower risk. And then going into it for yourself and having really strategy's already in place, just putting you in a better position. And lots of these things, by the way, I learned on podcasts. Oh, I love a girl podcast. I love, I am Well, that's why I like started to get empowered to even do this. There's another podcast that I listened to. It's called The Elite np. the whole premise of the show is this man. interviews nps that are really scared to go out on their own, into their own business. And he basically, he takes in their information and he'll either tell you, yeah, it doesn't seem like you're ready or or you are so ready that I don't even know why you're not doing this. Wow. I actually went on his podcast He calls it a consult. I gave him my numbers. told him my deal and he was like, why are you not doing this? So when are you leaving? That's the question Let's talk about marketing. Now that you are in your second space, let's talk about what that looks like in terms of getting your name out. With how busy the industry is getting now, And how there's just more competition than there was 10 years ago, 15 years ago. How does that look? How do I answer that question? Let me clarify Are you asking me how do I go about getting clients? I like that piece. We could go down that road. that's word of mouth. Which is obviously the most powerful type of marketing without a doubt. But yeah, how do you bring in fresh blood, really? Because eventually, or potentially that word of mouth, there's a limit. There's a cap ideally people are going and telling their 10 closest friends. So every one person that comes in is that was amazing. Got exactly what I was looking for. The results are amazing. They're telling 10 people, hopefully. But whether those 10 people turn around and come in a timely fashion, that's the downside of referral based. Right? Or word, mouth based business. You just hope the new patients come in, then they like you and refer somebody. But that's definitely where I'm weak. my marketing right now is just. Instagram. I'm not even consistent because I'm a one man show. I only have so much bandwidth The treating provider follow up with patients. Do all the charting. admin stuff on the back end. make a medical note for every patient. It's like the wall. Yeah. So yeah, like I would say Instagram, I do email blasts. I think email blasts are important. I don't know how effective they are. I know you can go in and look at the data, Maybe a little bit here and there? I know Google reviews are really important, which I have not gotten up and running yet. I need SEO badly. it's always changing. I don't wanna be the cheapest person on the block. I think it totally degrades your value, your brand, what it is that you're bringing to the table. And it makes you compete on price, which means you are almost at the mercy of how desperate the person next to you is. Who else is in that one mile radius? are they gonna undercut you because they need clients this month, or because they have a bigger expense, or whatever has happened? if you play that game, it's a race to the bottom. It's not ever getting you that position. plus people that are shopping from a price point like that as well, from a client perspective or a patient, they're also not loyal. They're looking for the cheapest option. They are not necessarily looking for the best service or a long-term relationship and loyalty, which is what you want to build, right? Absolutely. I learned that early on, and that was the exact phrase that the surgeon, Dr. Levine, I used to work with, said there's a race to the bottom. You never want to be the cheapest person. And those clients, not only are they gonna be disloyal, but they are gonna be the ones that come in. They pay $500 for their Botox, and inevitably they're not gonna be happy. And they're always gonna look for an angle to come back and to get like some kind of a refund or something else. It's just like this vicious cycle. it's the same thing with the patient that no-shows on you or last minute cancels Like you think in your mind, I want to keep that person in my practice. But really if they do that to you even two or three times in a year they are way too expensive. you could have made money in that time slot. And I had to learn that also. you just sometimes have to say this isn't working out. And it's such a hard thing to accept, as a business owner too, that it's okay to let go. To reintroduce 'em to the marketplace of other people because it's at the beginning, you're holding on to every ounce of money you can possibly get and you're so afraid. Yeah. And so to be able to say no, like I'm really good at what I do, people are going to come and that's not the right fit for me. Right. I think it's very powerful. Absolutely. So let's pivot a little bit and let's talk a little bit about being a mom and running a business.'cause I think that piece we can all attest to, but I think the reality in particular in this industry is. That makes up a huge portion of the providers are women who maybe not having children yet, but they're considering it and trying to figure out a way that like overnight nursing not easy with kids. So this becomes, okay, is there a way I could make this happen and would allow me some time flexibility and some freedom, and just being able to be at home overnight to do bedtime. Yeah. Well, I would say if that person does not have kids yet, I would say try to learn as much as you possibly can. Do every training, read every book? Because once that baby arrives baby brain is so real. You're so tired. Like the hormone shift is, I mean, it's vicious. It's no joke. Yeah. It's no joke. your ability to retain information and then apply it, diminishes. it's not just. When you have the baby, it's the whole time you're pregnant, a year after and even longer sometimes, it takes a long time to bounce back. my first one was 18 months old when I was like, oh, I don't feel so bad. I think just and good, the cloud of like lower world. Yes. I seem functioning in all cylinders, Uhhuh, and I do feel like that right now. Like I'll walk into like my pantry. I'm like, why was I in here? We don't really know, but we're here. so being a mom and trying to run a business I feel like everything just happens at once. It's never spaced out nicely. it's how much can you handle before you break? Yes. So that's a good question. 2024, I, I'm trying to run my business. Then we decide to have a second baby and I'm like, it's okay. I'm settled in my location. The one down the street. And then that, something else comes along, I'm like, oh, but it is better. And I don't wanna say no. So then I find myself pregnant trying to remodel this office and I was remodeling my kitchen. Everything is already in the works. Just so much happened at once and really not supposed to go down like that. So yeah, it was juggling a lot. But what I will say is, just save money so you can have a little, maybe fund where you have a night nurse. that's the only way I was able to come back to work quickly is 'cause I had a lady that came and helped me at nighttime so I could sleep and heal and then be able to come here and have a brain. One, this was your second kid too, so you knew like what you were getting into. Because with my first one, I hadn't even thought about a nightmare. I was like, I'll be fine. I'll be able to work during the day when she sleeps. Don't think that. you can think that it's just going to be in 32nd increments every three hours, so you're not as productive as you think you're going to be. The sleep and the baby sleeps, whoever said that, I won't punch them. Yeah. That never, it's a great philosophy. If you had nothing else to do, ever, if all other things were taken care of and you could just put them down for a nap, of course they go willingly and easily. And then you climb into your bed and you sleep until they wake up. That sounds blissful. But our modern life does not allow for that. I don't think there's way too much going on, especially if you're trying to work or run a business. So, my short answer to that is I have help, like I don't try to do all this on my own because I know I'll drop a ball if I do. Yeah. ultimately I know if I come here and work. it makes more sense for me financially versus just throwing my hands up and saying, I'm gonna be out for three months. patients will not wait for you. They can be your longest standing most loyal patient, and they will leave you. They will go find someone else. And it's a competitive industry. because it has become so oversaturated with options you do run that risk if you wait they have things going on too that they need their treatments for. So it's hard to, yeah. Find that balance of, and my baby was born in November for any injector, they'll tell you November, December, that's like your most busiest months outta the whole year. So if you're not working those months, that's a huge chunk of your revenue. And that's when people want it the most. It's their holiday time. It's their holiday parties. And then you're not there to provide that service for them. They're gonna find somebody else. I feel like we could have a full Podcast conversation about any one of the legs in the interest of not having you listen to a podcast that is seven hours long we will break it up a little bit, Let's talk about the questions you have. We always like to ask guests what is currently a challenge or what do you have questions around when it comes to either social media marketing in general or business coaching what's on your mind? What's currently plaguing you? what's plaguing me right now is SEO probably getting those Google reviews or having a better Google page, those types of things. When does one run specials or a membership or subscription type service? within the business? it seems like little growing pains that I have. do you wanna go with the membership subscription first? Yeah, I think we can definitely touch on that. It makes sense when you're at capacity and looking to expand your revenue per client. It's one of the best ways where you can lock in and know a little bit more consistently what your revenue looks like when dealing with a membership. A lot of times it's more of an analysis of what does the scheduling look like? Could you have somebody that's coming in and you have them scheduled that far out and whatever percentage of your patients you think would join the membership or would that be a draw for new patients? Right. So it is almost always those conversations start with what is your capacity, right? What can you do? How much time do you have that's not. Filled with patients And how much of it do you want filled with patients? That's also really critical. it will probably come back to you, you mentioned that you have administration that you're doing, how much of that administration should really be on your plate at this point, and how much of it could you get off? So it becomes a broader question, about who's doing what right now. We know you're doing it all pretty much. does that make sense? Do we need to free up some of your time from an administrative standpoint first? So that then bringing the membership on and increasing that patient load is a flexible and comfortable thing and still allows you the time flexibility you want. those are the pieces to nail in before you put yourself in that position of membership. these people are coming in with regular intent and need to have space for that and not take work home at night. Right. We don't wanna go the wrong way and have it be, you are still doing all the things, which means your daytime hours are super busy with the chair. Like you're there. And then you're like, well, administration will be done at home. After the kids go to bed when I am tired and I want to actually have downtime. So that's the Yeah. We're already to that tipping point for sure. Okay. Yes. There's a lot of doing stuff at home. I think, I mean, I know Tara's been there. I know I've been there. It's that ebb and flow of okay, now who and how do I outsource the next chunk of this? So that's probably your first business. And it's like thinking about hiring somebody, but who is it that I hired? Do I hire another provider? Do I hire an on site, administrator, like a virtual admin that is. More on the ground here, whether they're virtual and not in the US or whether they're virtual, but they're just working from home and they come in once or twice a week. Yeah. Can be a really helpful thing where there's the administration stuff in house. So whether it's things like ordering inventory Managing the office environment, all of that stuff. You can take that off your plate. And they're also doing, social media help, responding to commentary, email, just taking some of that stuff, where you can either outsource them and have someone doing it from a professional standpoint, which means you don't have to worry about it at all. Or you're training the brand voice to your administrator. You're trying to get them to do half of it. It's a baby step. But probably outsourcing it fully is what. Makes the most sense. I often will have clients do a grid of the four categories. things I love to do that I want to keep, no matter what things that I am good at, but I could lose and I don't really care. Things that I hate doing immensely and would like to get rid of immediately. And then things that I'm not great at but could keep doing. if you categorize every single thing that you do, it becomes very clear what that job description of that person is, and whether it has to be in-house or whether it can be somebody virtual, or whether it's an outsource to a service that helps you with. SEO or social media and just takes it off your plate. I'm just one person and I love what I do, but I can't be consumed. it's also putting a monetary value to your time and knowing my time is worth X amount per hour. Yeah. Is this a task that could be done by someone else that does not make X amount per hour? Or is this something that someone making a hundred or$200 an hour should be doing? Should I be taking my own notes? I don't know what the answer is to that, And then also you're a numbers person Do it. But like I'm regurgitating what she's taught me in coaching too. But like looking at what is your most profitable avenues and where you should be spending your time. If you can make a lot more money by hiring another provider. And that's something that you want to do and take on, then maybe that is the route to go. But if it's more like you could make a lot more money if you just have more time. Well we always say, you have to have time to work in the business but also work on the business. Yes, absolutely. And I also don't want to be a slave to the business. I feel like at this point, it owns me, Yes. That screams to me hiring of some kind. It might be that you're at the point and capacity that another injector would be very helpful. Another provider could be very helpful and the margins on that might look great. if they get full, they're equally gonna be creating the same amount of paperwork and administration, even more so.'cause now you have a scheduling situation. Yes. we have all these online tools and they're fantastic, but somebody still needs to be keeping an eyeball on those things. The following up, the reaching out, all of that. So it sounds like to me that you're closer to the boat. You probably need some human admin help. You probably are ready to have somebody else in here too functioning. And then there's so many different ways that you can set that up. Depending on what you want to look like long term. So it is, it's that broader conversation. Which leads me to another question. Is so why did I do a virtual healthcare assistant instead of having a person here one, 'cause I don't have to deal with the employee taxes. And also if I don't have, so I know that 10 99 is an option, you have to be careful with that, with admin because if they're working three, five days a week, it's not really a 10 90. It's not really a 10 99. Shawnee helps me five days a week. So if I have an employee, then I'm paying employee taxes. I don't know if you're familiar with the sep IRA, Well 'cause you have to offer it to your employee. After they're with you, I wanna say for a year. I don't remember that timeframe. But the SEP is great because you can put up to $65,000 a year into it. And it helps decrease your tax burden. Yeah. So it's like when you're a one man show, there's some of these funny little things where you're like, okay, I really like that vehicle. Yeah. but being a business that can provide that kind of benefit creates a greater caliber, of employee as well. running the numbers. scenario one looks like this, scenario two looks like this, scenario three looks like this. What does that create in terms of detriment or positive? once you've run all of that, you can see which way, or it might be like, when we get to X, that's when I bring on somebody in house, I'll still be able to put my money in there, but I'm gonna offer it to them as well. And the numbers match up. it's more math homework in the evenings. Sitting over a spreadsheet and going, what's the best direction? knowing that as soon as you're bringing in more revenue, it creates more expense. So no matter what you do next, it's going to change the dynamics of the finances. I want to feel like I can afford that person. Yeah. And to your point, that caliber. Yeah. A person. Yeah. I always say to people, I think the reality is it's just fear. When you're in the position that you are right now in terms of you're contemplating the growth and you're feeling stretched. Most of the time what's holding you back is just fear what if, am I gonna get the right person? Is it gonna go terrible? I have to be a boss. Do I want to be a boss? Do I have to manage somebody? all of those things are unknown. You're gonna hire somebody and they're not gonna be great. You are going to have to fire somebody. You're gonna have to discipline somebody 'cause they're not doing a great job. And it might be this person or it might be. A person, 10 people from now. Yeah. But if it's just one of those things where you're like, I know it's gonna happen, and so I'm just gonna embrace the fact that I'll be able to figure it out. I'll be able to learn how to do this. You're a person who absorbs information and seeks information. So this is just the next thing, this is just challenge facing me right now, is now I have to be a boss. Yeah. Of other people, which feels like another job. it is. It actually is. It definitely is. Which I think has been one of my parts of being reluctant to hire an injector because a lot of times they need some training. Yeah. And I always say training is draining because you know what you do. And they'll want to ask a lot of, which is great. I mean, I get that, but are you making my life easier? No. In the short term it's no. It's just no going in knowing it. Not easier. There's gonna be a three month, six month, depending on where they're at, timeframe, where your social battery is gone, when you go home for the day, because you are training them. But ideally they catch on quickly especially with injectors, you put all this time into them and then they're just like, you know what? I don't want to do this, or I'm gonna actually go work for somebody else. so you just spent six months of your life training them, and then they just leave. So you put some type of monetary value on your time. And they sign a contract. It's if you stay with me this amount of time, this training is considered, free or whatever. But if you leave after or before this amount of time. This is basically what you owe. It's a little bit of a safeguard. anybody who has gone down that path and has hired It's inevitable. one of the best things you can do is creating your systems and your processes and your standard operating procedure. To make training person number two. Less painful than training person number one. there's not really any way around the fact that people will leave. Right. And so if we just, again, if we just know that going in, except that's the reality and realize what can you get out of it? Like what is the benefit for you to learn? How do I train best? How do I deal with somebody like this? What am I looking for? What do they need to come to the table with originally? And what do I know they can learn? What do I know I can teach you? Because there's certain pieces of the way you operate and the way you interact with clients that you're gonna want to have that. As similar to you as possible. But there's other pieces where you're like, where am I weak? is there somebody that can cover my left? And do something different than I do. And as a result, then we'll be stronger together. So what would you guys say I'm coming to you as a client. Like what is the first steps, like what's the starter kit from where you are right now? What to do next? In terms of hiring specifically or just in general? No, just business management or what? I know it's a broad question, but separate answers. I think our answers are gonna be the same though, because I actually think my answer would be social media. right now if you're inconsistent, it is such a driver in this particular industry. I think social media. And nailing it or getting somebody to do it for you. that would be the way to go. That's where I would start. once you get the traction going there with a membership as say that's the next offer, you're going to go down the path establishing that social media, getting that credibility, sharing that stuff out there and then launch that membership more than just the email blast you're doing currently. So then you're gonna have that social media following because this industry is so visual. That's a place where people are going to look and say Do I want to go there? Secondly, I would say absolutely Google. You've got clients that are coming from New York to Houston. You have fantastic reviews. You have Google reviews that people just haven't put on Google yet for you. making that part of just your regular repertoire with clients, that's just going to solidify everything you've done to this point. The next thing is asking these questions and trying to map out what's my next step from there. which social media platform, do you think? It needs to be all of them. It needs to be the ticky talky, the Instagram. I'll let Tara into this because I always have a minimal is best in my own personal opinion. Yeah. No, I definitely think Instagram is gonna be your first and foremost, just because it's the most popular and right now the most stable. TikTok is still up in the air as far as what's going to be happening. So if somebody doesn't have a TikTok account right now, I'm not really pushing people to start it and put all this energy into it. Just because we don't know what's gonna happen. But yeah, I would definitely say Instagram and depending on, like whenever I start working with someone, we do a deep dive into who is your target demographic. What kind of clients are spending the most money? Who do you want to bring in the door more? where are they located? So if it is a certain age group. they might be more heavily on Facebook or on Instagram. Or if you are servicing the younger twenties, you might need to put that energy into TikTok. So we look at all of those things and decide, which platforms make the most sense? Or if you're servicing a lot of other business owners, it might make things to have a LinkedIn presence. Which is something that I think gets forgotten about a lot of the time. Just because it's like, well, I'm not trying to get a business. I'm not hiring, but business owners are there. Especially when you're not the cheapest option. You're an expert. You're looking for high net worth individuals that have established careers. That might be a good avenue to explore. It's also less used, in the research for this podcast, what I've noticed is so few med spa owners are on there in a significant way, which says to me opportunity because the people who are paying for your services are a hundred percent on there. And if you show up in a way that I don't have to scroll on Instagram, right? If we're trying to move away from social media, which so many of us are, or at least try to occasionally I'm excited to see something different on there. I'm excited to be like, ooh, okay. The other one is podcasts. I think doing things like this, but I think the organic PR stuff can have massive traction locally. And so I think it's worth also exploring that. When you say organic pr, do you mean LinkedIn No, I mean LinkedIn definitely as a strategy but I would also say articles. Getting on the news, being a featured speaker at different events, that sort of thing. Like so that local expertise where people are like, oh yes, I saw her speak there. Oh yeah, I saw that article in the magazine she was in. that starts to just be stuff that people it's like almost subliminal. But people are like, I see Mindi everywhere. She must be the best. that correlation just happens. So many people have moved to a purely social media strategy and I think there's a lot of opportunity in other avenues to, but to have them merge, right? Yes. So that everywhere you go, you're there and you're doing it at a level that is wow, that is luxury. That is an impressive brand. Building that signature brand. And building your personal brand. In addition to that, so having your presence in that magazine even when you were working for someone else was a great step It's very smart. And that's where LinkedIn, I would recommend that. going back to your SEO portion and I know you've mentioned most of your clients right now are word of mouth. one of the things I always say is, whenever you're getting referred by all these people, what do you think is the first thing that they're doing when they are told that they should go to you. They're looking you up. they're looking for your digital presence. They're looking to see if you're someone trustworthy to go to. So seeing a Google profile that has the reviews, like other people say, you're a great person to go to having that Instagram. word of mouth can be strong but how much stronger could it be if you were also doing, because I know when I look at businesses, even if you just pick out a restaurant. If I just see good reviews, they seem sincere I feel like, oh, I really want to go to this place. it's one thing for Aunt Sally to say, come to this injector. She's great. Okay, great, thank you. But then you look at it and a hundred other people also said this. Great. I will definitely check her around. Yeah.'cause it builds that, that trust. Yeah. Without you having to do much work. Right. Because it's there. it's their words. And that holds so much more value than the words on the website. Right. Which are important. You need to have them. But people believe other people more than they're gonna believe you saying, I've done this, I've got this experience, I've got this. It, you jump over that hurdle of you can say anything you want on a website. And it's well, yes. Also, we're not full of crap either, but. But they want to hear from other patients that have experienced coming here and meeting. Exactly. And if you have clients that are literally flying from New York, I'm sure you have clients that will, she has brag clients in Houston. I met them, so I'm sure you have tons that are just waiting for you to be like, Hey, we leave me a review. I'm doing this cool thing. It's called Google Reviews. It's very new and cutting edge. I am on the men now. I am. you're just over capacity. It's just one more thing on the page of you trying to like. Do you want? That's how I feel. I've got ideas and I just don't have time to roll 'em out. Well, and I think so often as business owners we're so hard on ourselves. We're like, well, everyone else is doing this, and I'm the only one not doing that. That's not the case. I talk to business owners all the time and a lot of them will say I need to get more reviews. I need to do more of this. so how does that process start? I come to you, I'm like, I need you to optimize me. how do you start that process? on the Google side or on SEO? Google. Yeah, just optimizing. I don't even know the words to ask you. just make it better. We feel like that's what I would say to you if I was sitting in the chair. I don't know the words to ask you, but just make it better. Please. Yes. A lot of people say that, they're like, I just know I need marketing and I don't know what I need. And that's fine. So we start with a onboarding call. That will like a deep dive into the strategy Who is your target demographic, What are your main services What are your most profitable services? And that's where someone like Sam would come in too with okay, where. Where are you making the most money, but what also are you wanting to push more? And finding that balance then within the strategy of okay, we're gonna talk about this kind of service 50% of the time, and then these others, the other 50%. So we put together all of that and then we look at what makes the most sense as far as where should we be putting content? What kind of content should we be putting out? Are you a center that wants to be on camera? Hopefully so because of the visual aspect of this industry. And if not finding the workarounds with that. And then doing content creation and optimizing all of the different profiles. Because even if we're posting this many times a week on Instagram and only once a week on another platform, they all have to be optimizing the right way with the right keyword.'cause your SEO is so much more than just your website. It's your Google profile. It's every single social media platform. The search engines will pick that up too. So it's just doing a deep dive into everything. And going through it all and then plan moving forward. Okay. I knew those things. Well, we can, Tara can help me. I need those things. Bradley, you're like, yes. That's a thing I need. Yes. Sometimes it's just not knowing what to even ask for. you're not just going to wake up one day and call a marketing agency, hey what should I want? It's hard to even ask, but Yeah. It's like what I do with patients. I do an intake form, tell me about yourself. Tell me your history. Tell me what bothers you. And then I'll tell you what I can offer. To address some of these concerns. Are your ideals realistic? Are they not? What can we do in a timeframe? how long does it take to get the result you're looking for? I feel like there's actually a lot of overlap between what marketing does and what you do. it's not, today. I'm not gonna be able to just do three little things and you're good to go and you're never gonna have to come back. Yeah. It's that kind of consistency and structure. Skin, it never ends. No, for real. But non night cream every day, so there you go. Good job. where are your sunscreen? Yes, that's the number one. Where are your sunscreen? Yeah. Well, this was so great. Thank you so much for opening the cottage for us to come in and bring all the lights and the mics. But thank you so much for just sharing and being so open with your whole journey. Well, I love sharing it. So until next week, make sure that you are following us, you're liking, you're subscribing, you're doing all the things so that you can make sure that you are getting each and every episode. And of course, if you wanna be here having this conversation with us, we'd love to talk to you. Be sure to check in the show notes for the application to be a guest, because we're always looking to chat with amazing entrepreneurs.